A mechanical claw today rolled in to Dudley’s North Priory estate to reduce the first homes to rubble in just a matter of minutes.

Full-scale demolition on the housing estate got under way today with a Volvo 210 excavator moving on site to tear down the now empty homes by “nibbling” at buildings from the top.

The process will involve nearly 300 former homes on the estate being demolished over the next six months with workers taking down 14 buildings at a time.

Houses in Pine Road are the first to be demolished under the scheme and work to clear the site started this afternoon. Demolition will eventually finish in Primrose Crescent.

Up to 12 workers are currently at the site but as work continues this is expected to increase.

Following the competion of the demolition new homes and a community centre will be built on the estate. Today’s work comes just a week after the properties were stripped of their kitchens and bathrooms.

Debris including doors, toys and electrical equipment removed from the houses were piled up in the streets as the machinery stood ready to bite into its first section of brickwork.

The excavator uses a large claw to tear out materials starting at the top of each house.

This means bricks and other materials remain intact and can be recycled.

Once the buildings have been demolished the slow process of sorting through the rubble will begin.

All of the material including plastic, wood and plaster board will be separated so the different products can be recycled or re-used where possible.

Extractor driver Joe Thomas, from demolition company Humphries who are carrying out the work, said: “One house can be demolished within minutes.

“The biggest job will be sorting through all the debris afterwards as everything will have to be separated.”